The present invention relates to the field of cutting and, more particularly, it is concerned with cutting sheet materials such as limp fabrics, plastics, paper and similar products by means of high velocity fluid cutting jets.
The use of a high velocity fluid cutting jet for cutting materials such as fabrics, wood and other products has been known for some time. The cutting jet is usually produced by forcing water through a nozzle at very high pressures ranging between 10,000 psi and 100,000 psi. The velocity of the fluids at these pressures varies between 1,000 and 3,000 feet per second but the quantity of fluid involved is minimal since the throat diameters of the nozzles are in the order of 0.004 inch to 0.015 inch. Nevertheless, the power associated with high velocity jets may be several horsepower or more and dissipating the energy of such a jet even after it has cut through sheet material is not a simple problem in a cutting machine that must be of practical size and must operate with a jet nozzle that is translated relative to a stationary machine frame.
If there are no space limitations at the side of the workpiece from which a cutting jet exits, the jet can be dissipated in a larger vat of the same fluid forming the jet or other material such as sand or gravel. When space limitations do not permit a large vat to be positioned along the axis of the jet, the jet from a stationary nozzle may be deflected by a series of stationary plates or baffles to some other location away from the cutting station where the jet is eventually dissipated. In a system having a nozzle which moves relative to a frame supporting the workpiece, however, none of the prior art methods are particularly suitable since they require a fairly large space to receive the jet and dissipate its energy. Furthermore, dissipating the jet in a limited space by impinging it directly upon a hard backing member behind or below the workpiece is also undesirable since the backsplatter of the jet contains a substantial portion of the jet energy and results in a broad dispersion of the fluid against the workpiece. In addition, continual impingement of the high power jet at a single point on the backing member will eventually result in erosion or destruction of the member.
It is, accordingly, a general object of the present invention to disclose a receiver for a high velocity fluid jet that is capable of dissipating the energy of the jet in a cutting machine without deterioration over extended periods of time.